Fire and Flames
by Britani Gael
Summary: DxL. Thirty fics, fluffy romances all of them. [Current themes: on top]
1. Best Unasked

Another challenge community, this one is for 30romances on LiveJournal. The pairing is Dante/Lady, thirty stories of any length, so long as the theme is romance. I need to sign up for less of these -- but they keep me writing.

**Fandom**: Devil May Cry**  
Title**: Best Unasked**  
Author**: Britani Gael**  
Theme**: #35; memory; photo**  
Pairing/Characters**: Dante/Lady  
**Words**: 332**  
Rating**: G**  
**

"Who's this?"

It's the first time she's ever seen Dante freeze up, and he doesn't do it with style, unlike everything _else_ he does. He stares at her for almost a solid second with his mouth open, and then he grabs the picture out of her hands. "Nobody," he says.

Lady cocks her head and looks at him. "Dante, I think you're lying to—"

His face stops her.

He sets the frame carefully back onto the desk, and makes sure the woman in the picture is facing away from her when he does so. "It's… not you," he says, lamely. "I just—"

"You promised me dinner," she interrupts, crossing her arms and tapping her foot. She's already decided to change the subject; in fact, she wishes she'd never brought it up at all. They both have pasts better left buried, and Lady's the last one who would ever pry into his. "We're running half an hour late already."

His relief is obvious – Dante loves attention, but getting put on the spot is something entirely different. He grabs his coat off the back of his chair, shrugs into it, and holsters both pistols with his usual flair. Heaven forbid he goes anywhere unarmed, though Lady is hardly one to talk. She has a nine millimeter strapped to her thigh, under her skirt, and she knows the most dangerous thing they're going to encounter tonight is cheap Italian food.

Seeing that he's finally gotten the lead out, she turns towards the door. She's reaching for the door when she's jerked to a stop, halted by Dante's arms snaking around her waist and across her shoulders, pulling her against him in a possessive bear hug. He rests his chin on her head, and they stand there.

He has her effectively pinned, and she looks up at him, annoyed. His eyes are closed. "What?" she asks.

"Thanks," he says. "For, you know, not asking."

"Hey," she responds. "I have a dysfunctional family, too, remember?"


	2. Trick of the Light

**Fandom**: Devil May Cry**  
Title**: Trick of the Light**  
Author**: Britani Gael**  
Theme**: #04; diabolical **  
Pairing/Characters**: Dante/Lady  
**Words**: 773**  
Rating**: PG

---

She ran.

Lady ducked around a corner and pressed her back against the wall, breathing hard. She could still hear the sounds of battle in the distance, the fight was still raging. The devil was still winning.

She slid down the wall until she was sitting on the cold stone floor. She had a weapon in each hand, Uzi and pistol, and she placed them both on the ground between her feet – she wasn't going to need them anymore. Lady wasn't a coward, not by a long shot, and she couldn't believe she'd run away.

The shrieks and screams stopped.

She tensed at the sound of approaching footsteps, but didn't move to stand. Instead, she kept her eyes on the ground, even when a pair of heavy motorcycle boots came to a stop in front of her.

"Hey," he said.

She wanted to apologize for bailing on him, maybe make some joke about leaving all the work to him for once. But she couldn't and so she wouldn't, she just nodded once. "Hey," she said.

He tapped his foot, waiting for more. When he didn't get it, he sighed. "I didn't mean to scare you," he said.

"You didn't."

"Well, in _that_ case, what the hell's your problem?"

She didn't exactly expect him to be sympathetic.

The battle had been going their way for most of the day. Demon hunting with Dante was getting to be routine; they cleared the castle room by room, methodically loading and reloading their weapons. Occasionally one would get too close and he would pull out his sword or whatever devil's arm he'd brought with him today. But overall, this job was just too damn easy for him to bother.

Until they'd walked into a trap, a tricky ambush and Lady soon was dealing with more claws and blades than she new how to dodge. Dante had shouted something – now she knew it was a warning – and then he'd let his other side take over.

She'd never seen it before.

His demonic form was blood red, it was terrible and powerful – more powerful than any monster she had ever taken down. Seeing him in the midst of all the rest, ripping the Scythes to pieces and obviously loving it, she had to wonder. What was the difference?

Dante was a _devil_. And he was still tapping his foot.

"Did you get hurt?" he asked.

"No."

"Thanks to me, huh?"

Lady jerked her head up with every intention of wiping the smirk right off his face, but to her surprise his expression was calm and serious. He wasn't trying to piss her off, for once. He offered her his hand, and despite all her reservations took it without hesitating.

He pulled her to her feet.

"Thanks," she said, bending down to pick up her guns. She holstered her weapons and took a deep breath, because it had to be said: "Dante, I hunt demons. I hate them."

Dante grinned. "Well, that's what makes me special," he said. "'Cuz I'm the exception, right?"

That's when she hesitated.

If it hurt him he didn't show it, and in fact she couldn't read his face at all. He took a step closer, and she reflexively took a step back, which put her against the wall with no where else to go. He put a hand on each of her shoulders and looked her right in the eyes. "Do you trust me?" he asked.

He knew she did. He still wanted to hear her say it. "Yes." And she wasn't lying, either, because she wasn't remotely afraid of him. Not even when he had her pinned up against a wall, not even when his face was only inches away from hers.

He leaned forward.

She didn't turn away.

Chuckling softly, he pulled back. "Then trust me." He took his hands off her shoulders and stuck them in his pockets, starting down the hallway with a definite swagger in his step. "C'mon, babe, we've got a lot more rooms to get through."

Still leaning up against the wall, Lady felt confused. Disoriented. _Dizzy_. She had no idea what had just happened, but she was suddenly irritated as hell.

He glanced over his shoulder. "You coming?"

"I—" Scowling, she started walking and stormed past him. "I'm taking the lead," she said, pulling out a pistol and checking the clip. She still had plenty of ammo, just like she had the last time she'd looked. "You can stand back, for once."

"That's what I've been waiting for, Lady."

And she couldn't see him, but she could have sworn she heard the smile in his voice.

---


	3. On Top

**Fandom**: Devil May Cry**  
Title**: Banter**  
Author**: Britani Gael**  
Theme**: #16; on top **  
Pairing/Characters**: Dante/Lady

**Words**: 1233**  
Rating**: PG-13

**Author's Notes**: Dialogue heavy. The first three quarters of this was a blast to write, the last few paragraphs were painful and took more long than I'll admit to.

"So, you've never done this before?"

Dante gave her a look. "You're kidding, right?"

Lady straightened her top and raised her fists in a classic fighting position. She shifted her stance, leaning forward and keeping her weight off her rear foot. "Well, you don't look like you've had a lot of… formal training."

He matched her stance and rolled his eyes. "I know how to spar. I used to wipe the floor with my brother every day after school, I'll have you know."

"I don't believe you."

"Believe it, babe." He wiggled his eyebrows. "I've got _experience_."

She side kicked him in the chest.

He landed on his back in the padded floor of the dojang, and quickly flipped off his hands back onto his feet. "That," he said, "was a cheap shot."

It was her turn to roll her eyes.

"I've gotta admit it, though. You're pretty damn fast."

She went for another kick but he was a step ahead, dropping to one knee and sweeping her other leg out from under her. Lady regained her balance quickly enough to handspring backwards and managed an awkward landing. He rushed her.

She dove to the side, and out of habit reached for pistols she didn't have.

Dante turned to face her and wagged a finger. "Nuh uh uh. You're the one who said no weapons."

"Can't you shut up for just a second?" she asked. She stood up, back into position. "I wanted to train seriously."

"And you invited me? I'm touched."

"Don't be."

Smirk. "But what if I _want_ to be touched?"

"You're… impossible."

"Only when I want to be."

She didn't fall for his bait; instead she waited, bouncing lightly on her toes.

"Come on," he said. "You're gonna make me work for it?"

She waited.

"Fine." He aimed his kick low, another sweep, and she sidestepped and jabbed with her rear fist. He caught her hand and twisted her arm around, behind her back. She went with the movement and continued the circle, swinging her elbow towards his face.

"Son of a—" He let go of her hand and stumbled back, and was still cursing when he snapped his nose back into place. "This shirt was new, you know."

"I thought you'd be used to the sight of your own blood."

"That doesn't mean I _like_ it."

She shrugged.

"You realize this means war?" he asked.

"I'm terrified."

"You should be. I can cheat, too." He dropped his fighting pose and his arms, letting them hang by his sides as he cocked his head.

She pushed her hair out of her eyes. "I am not cheating."

"Well, you sure aren't playing fair."

Lady shrugged, and then did a cart wheeled to the side, landing on her feet and striking out with a sweeping kick of her own. He laughed and flipped over her head, over her kick, and landed behind her.

She spun fast and blocked the punch to her midsection, leaving herself open to the blow aimed at her face.

"That would've broken your jaw," Dante commented, as Lady stumbled back. He'd pulled the punch, a lot, but the glancing blow still had set her vision spinning. "You should be more careful."

"Shut up," she snapped, and then she attacked.

The flurry of punches and kicks caught him by surprise, but it hardly made a difference. He danced backwards, blocking each attack with his hands.

She kept it up for a minute, maybe a minute and a half, and then her stamina started running out. That was, of course, what he was waiting for, because he wasn't about to get hit in the face again.

He caught one of her hands and used it to spin her whole body around, pulling her back to him and holding her there with both arms. "Jackpot!"

"Jack_ass_. Let go."

His arms tightened around her waist.

"Dante, don't—"

He picked her up without difficultly, turned her in the air, and took them both to the ground.

Lady glared up at him. Both of her arms were held down by both of his hands, and he was straddling her chest and grinning widely. "Get off me, Dante," she said.

"No."

"I mean it."

"Come on, that's not in the rules, is it? Aren't we supposed to count to ten or something?"

She kicked him in the back with both knees.

The blow knocked the air out of his lungs, and he fell forward onto his hands. Ignoring his complaints, and his weight on top of her, she started squirming out from underneath him, using her now free hands to try and shove him off.

He recovered fast. "Um, ouch?" He blinked when one of her flailing hands accidentally landed across his face, and again when she did it on purpose. "Cut it out!"

"Are you _ever_ planning on getting up?"

He faked a yawn. "Why? Except for the slapping me bit, I'm comfy."

She hit him again. "Well, it's not going to stop, as long as you're just going to lie there."

"What, you want more?" He easily caught both her hands with one of his and pinned them down onto the mat, above her head, where she wouldn't have the leverage to do anything about it.

Her eyes narrowed to angry slits. "Dante, don't you fucking da—"

Her protest was muffled by his mouth. He kissed her too hard and in a second it went even further than he'd meant it, she stopped struggling and he let go of her because he wanted to touch her face. And then she pulled him closer with her hands on his neck and his hands moved down to her breasts, she was pressing up against him, he was going too far and she was _letting him_.

Dante liked to try to and lighten the mood between the two of them with his cheesy innuendos, but when they both knew he meant every word it sucked the humor out of the whole act. Lady was nice to look at but she was better as a friend, and in another second he was going to ruin that.

He rolled off her, catching her hands and pulling her up with him as he got to his feet. Lady turned her back on him and fixed her shirt, and drew the back of her hand across her mouth like she was wiping him off her. When she faced him again, her face was still red. "That," she said, "was cheating."

He snorted. "You liked it."

She said nothing.

"Look," he said. "I can't take it back."

Nothing.

"And I wouldn't."

More nothing.

"Can we just start this over?"

She shook her head.

He sighed.

"But," she said, "that's not exactly the end of the world." She started towards the exit, picking up her gear bag off the ground and opening the door. "I'll be here at the same time tomorrow, and you better be, too."

"Oh? Why?"

"Because next time I'm planning on pinning you."

He raised his eyebrows.

Lady looked back over her shoulder. "And _no_ cheating."

His shoulders slumped as he walked, following her out of the building. "Damn, Lady, you take the fun out of everything."

"It's a gift."

"If you say so." But he was smiling as he followed her out of the building, because he hadn't screwed this up. At least, not yet.


End file.
